The surest indicator of success in the Champions League is the touchline run by substitutes and coaching staff to celebrate a winning goal.

After Robert Lewandowski’s fabulous finish settled this game in the closing minutes, no one could stop Borussia Dortmund’s dug-out.

Cast your mind back to Jose Mourinho’s dash at Old Trafford when Porto boss or the sprint by Barcelona’s players after Andres Iniesta’s last-minute equaliser in the semi-final at Stamford Bridge in 2009. Dortmund’s reaction to their Polish striker’s — who Arsene Wenger said was lucky not to be sent off — winner at the Emirates rivalled it.

Their coach Jurgen Klopp, banished to the stands after his rant at the fourth official in Naples, knew his team had been in a game. But they came through it and Klopp is king again. How else could you explain his fist-pumping celebrations and the incredible scenes down below following Lewandowski’s smash-and-grab winner?

It was so cruel on Arsenal, though a bruised Arsene Wenger did not spare his team. ‘We put ourselves on the back foot with the first goal and were a bit naive with the second goal,’ he admitted. ‘If you look at the number of saves our goalkeeper had to make, we can only look at ourselves.

We were not mature enough. ‘If you cannot win a game then don’t lose it. In the second half we were on top but made it difficult by giving them the second goal.’

Arsenal still deserve a pat on the back for a performance in which they stayed true to their principles and tested one of the best teams in Europe. They played neat and tidy, high-tempo football.

Victory over Marseille at the Emirates on November 26 and a point in either Naples or Dortmund will surely take them through. ‘The group is tight and it will be difficult for us,’ added Wenger. ‘We need a result away, but we can do that.’

This is a setback for a side that had climbed to the top of the Barclays Premier League and opened their European campaign with two victories.

They were undone eight minutes from time by the brilliance of Lewandowski when he read Kevin Grosskreutz’s cross and beat Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with the first-time finish of a superstar. He is a special player.

There will be those who argue that he was lucky to be on the field following his elbow to the face of Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny in the second half. Wenger, inevitably, is among them ‘It looked like Lewandowski could have been sent off,’ claimed Arsenal’s manager. ‘The referee was in a better situation.’

On with the game. Lewandowski had barely had a kick but the Dortmund forward only needed one chance. He took it.

It was an extraordinary lapse in concentration at a time when Arsenal were pushing so hard for the winner themselves.

They had recovered from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s finish from a slick move on the edge of the area that was created when Aaron Ramsey was nudged off the ball by Marco Reus. High up in the stands Klopp was dressed in a dinner suit and at that point it felt as though his team were in town to clean up.

Few have the audacity to poke the ball through the legs of Jack Wilshere, but that’s precisely what Jakub Blaszczykowski did down by the touchline. It established midfield supremacy in Dortmund’s favour, confirmation that Klopp’s team will never settle for second best.

At times Arsenal were uncertain, unsure of their best pass in case they lost the ball and invited Reus, Mkhitaryan or Blaszczykowski to mount another attack.

‘I felt we started a bit hesitant, which we didn’t do against Napoli in our last game,’ added Wenger. ‘That gave them confidence. I believe our free-flowing football was not quick enough. We were not at our best.’ They were not allowed to be. Mat Hummels was exceptional in the centre of Dortmund’s defence, nipping the ball off the toes of Olivier Giroud and sending passes to the feet of Sven Bender or Nuri Sahin.

Hummels was there for the nitty-gritty as well, clearing off the line from Tomas Rosicky during some troubled moments towards the end of the first half. He is a class act. His partner Neven Subotic is normally in the same bracket, but he was at fault for Arsenal’s equaliser as Bacary Sagna’s right-wing cross drifted into the path of Giroud.

Subotic and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller combined to make a hash of clearing it and the Frenchman was left facing an empty net, three yards out. Game on.

It may have been a gift but it was still just reward for perseverance. Wenger had demanded exactly that reaction and leapt from the bench to salute his players for getting back into the game.

Dortmund are one of the most powerful teams in the Champions League after their run to the final against Bayern Munich last season, so this was Arsenal’s chance to confirm they really are in the running for one of the game’s major honours.

— Dailymail